The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program, which perform three-dimensional image display.
In recent years, display devices such as a television set or a PC which can display three-dimensional images (3D images) called stereoscopic images, or video cameras or still cameras which can record three-dimensional images (3D images) have been developed and used. It is necessary to capture two images from different viewpoints in order to display 3D images. That is to say, the two images are a left eye image from a left eye viewpoint and a right eye image from a right eye viewpoint.
When the two images captured from different viewpoints are displayed, a control is performed such that the left eye image is viewed only with the left eye of a viewer, and the right eye image is viewed only with the right eye of the viewer, and thereby the viewer can perceive a stereoscopic effect. In addition, methods of recording, transmitting, and displaying 3D images include various methods.
As one of methods of displaying 3D images, there is a method in which, for example, a left eye image and a right eye image are alternately displayed on a display device; a viewer wears shutter type glasses; a shutter conversion is performed for each of the left eye image display period and the right eye image display period; and each image is viewed only with one eye.
For example, in a case of displaying the 3D images, the left eye image and the right eye image are displayed such that display positions of the same display object deviate in the left and right directions. By displaying the images with such parallax, a viewer can perceive stereoscopic images with a sense of depth. An example of setting parallax will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 2.
FIG. 1A shows a display image and a perceived image of an image where parallax is absent, FIG. 1B shows a display image and a perceived image of an image where parallax is present, and the two figures are arranged in parallel to each other.
In FIG. 1A, in a case of the display image of the image where parallax is absent, display positions of an object (apple) on an image display surface are the same in both the left eye image and the right eye image.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 1A, the display object (apple) is viewed exactly at the same position on the display surface in both the left eye image viewed with the left eye of a viewer and the right eye image viewed with the right eye of the viewer. As a result, the viewer perceives the display object (apple) so as to be located at the display surface position.
On the other hand, as shown in the display image of FIG. 1B, a case where parallax is present in FIG. 1B (a parallax setting example 1) shows a parallax setting example where the left eye image displayed on the display surface is deviated to the left (the left when viewed from the viewer) and the right eye image is deviated to the right (the right when viewed from the viewer).
In this setting, as shown in the perceived image of FIG. 1B, the viewer perceives the object corresponding to the images further on the inner side (distant place) than the display surface.
In addition, as shown in the display image of FIG. 2, a case where parallax is present in FIG. 2 (a parallax setting example 2) shows a parallax setting example where the left eye image displayed on the display surface is deviated to the right (the right when viewed from the viewer) and the right eye image is deviated to the left (the left when viewed from the viewer). In this setting, as shown in the perceived image of FIG. 2, the viewer perceives the object corresponding to the images further on the front side (near place) than the display surface.
As such, the viewer can perceive positions of the display object at various positions through parallax setting in the left eye image and the right eye image.
However, there are cases where if images where parallax is present are displayed, some viewers experience discomfort or eye fatigue. In order to solve the problem, there has been proposed a configuration capable of adjusting parallax. For example, Japanese Patent No. 3749227 discloses a configuration where parallax is adjusted by the entire screen deviating uniformly. However, if the images are entirely moved, there is a problem in that an end part of an image to be originally displayed on the display unit is omitted.